You are viewing information archived from Mozilla.org on 2013-08-16.

This is third alpha milestone of our mobile version of Firefox, codenamed Fennec, on the Windows Mobile 6 platform. This release is provided for for testing purposes only, intended to:

  • get wider feedback on our approach to the user experience;
  • engage Mozilla community teams, including localizers, and testers;
  • get feedback from Web developers;
  • encourage add-on developers to port existing add-ons and invent new ones for mobile.

The initial focus of Fennec development was on building a new user experience that reflects Firefox's design principles, adding touch screen support and other interactions appropriate for mobile phones and other handheld devices. Fennec preserves leading features like the Smart URL Bar ("awesome bar") and support for add-ons.

This Windows Mobile alpha release continues to focus on stability, performance, and integration with the Windows Mobile OS. This version also includes numerous fixes, better performance and further refinement of our theme.

To help out, visit the Mozilla mobile page to learn about our public weekly meetings, how to find our community on IRC, and more.

These release notes provide a "quick start" for the impatient, some highlights of what's included in this version, download and installation instructions, known issues, and frequently asked questions. Please read these notes and the bug filing instructions before reporting bugs to Bugzilla.

Quick start

This release is available for the Windows Mobile 6 software platform. If you're viewing this on an Windows Mobile device, install Fennec.

Don't have a Windows Mobile device? Don't worry, you can still experiment with Fennec, provide feedback, write add-ons, and get involved by installing a version of Fennec for your desktop PC:

While the destkop versions of Fennec are not supported products, they are a great way to familiarize yourself with the Fennec UI, provide feedback, build add-ons, or even localize it to your native language.

What's in this version?

New for Alpha 3:

  • Much improved panning/scrolling performance
  • Improved start-up time
  • Revised theme
  • Support for running in full screen
  • Numerous bug fixes
  • Improved painting performance
  • Improved UI polish
  • Support for touch sensitive directional pad on HTC devices
  • Improved kinetic panning with directional locking
  • Ability to scroll frames
  • Improved zooming support
  • Support for multiple screen sizes

This builds upon the feature set of the previous releases:

Easy navigation to Web content:

  • Bookmarks, including tags
  • Smart URL bar ("awesome bar")
  • Tabbed browsing with thumbnail images
  • Integrated Web search - built into the URL bar
  • Easy access to multiple search engines
  • Built in error console
  • Support for add-ons

Web content:

  • Maximize content by auto-hiding controls and URL bar
  • Zoom in and out

Security:

  • Instant Web site ID ("Larry")
  • Password manager
  • Popup blocker
  • Clear private data

Devices services integration:

  • Click on a phone number to initiate a call
  • JavaScript API to get device location

Also:

  • Searchable download manager
  • Preferences pane
  • Add-ons manager, including ability to directly find and install add-ons

Installing Fennec

System requirements:

  • Windows Mobile device running Windows Mobile Professional 6.0 of greater.

Installation:

Install a version of Fennec for your desktop PC:

Tips and tricks

  • swipe left to expose back/forward/bookmark buttons and the URL bar; swipe right to dismiss them
  • swipe right to expose tabs; swipe left to dismiss them

Known issues

  • Plugins may not work in some of the desktop builds.
  • URL bar is slow to open
  • Rotating the display may cause painting or zooming errors
  • Cannot open a file from the download manager
  • Interaction issues with soft keyboard on the Samsung Omnia
  • Some pages layout too wide
  • Start up time slow until phone reboot

Give us feedback